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The Indian women's cricket team will face a moment of reckoning on Thursday (October 30) at Navi Mumbai's DY Patil Stadium as they aim to do the impossible and knock Australia out of the 2025 ICC Women's World Cup 2025 during the semi-final as the Harmanpreet Kaur-led side aim to end a long drought and win a first senior major women's global tournament and on home soil. After a roller coaster outing in the league stage, India finished fourth in the table with three wins and as many defeats. Meanwhile, Australia were unbeaten and secured the top spot with six wins in seven matches while they played out one washout. India has been hit with a major blow as star batter Pratika Rawal has been ruled out of the game after suffering an injury in the rainout game against Bangladesh. Shafali Verma has replaced her in the squad, and with no other specialist opener in the squad, she is set to get a direct entry into the playing XI. Harleen Deol's place has come under doubt, but the team management has backed her so far. With the security of Pratika gone, Harleen will become even more important to the team's plans at number three and should retain her spot. Harmanpreet will be key to India's chances at number four, while Jemimah Rodrigues made a strong comeback with a fine knock against New Zealand, post being dropped against England, and should be part of the XI this time around. This will mean that all-rounder Amnjot Kaur misses out, as she did in the Women in Blue's fixture against the White Ferns. Richa Ghosh missed the game against Bangladesh after suffering a blow to the finger against New Zealand. However, she has been training and also keeping wickets, which means she is set to retun in a major relief to the hosts. Sneh Rana rested in the final league stage game, with Radha Yadav getting a chance. Despite the latter' impressive display, Rana's return to the line-up is not a matter of debate. Essentially, India are expected to make three changes from the game against Bangladesh and play the same line-up that featured in the virtual quarter-final against New Zealand apart from Pratika's omission and Shafali's entry. India's Likely XI vs Australia in ICC Women's WC 2025 SF: Shafali Verma, Smriti Mandhana, Harleen Deol, Harmanpreet Kaur, Jemimah Rodrigues, Deepti Sharma, Richa Ghosh (WK), Sneh Rana, Renuka Thakur, Kranti Goud, Shree Charani
